RALEIGH, N.C – .By the time they failed to score on their second power play within the first four minutes of the third period Thursday, Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau was so frustrated he began to think of other plans with the man advantage.

His suggestion apparently riled up Corey Perry, the team’s leading goal scorer.

“Our power play’s been so dismal, I think the third one in the third period, I said, ‘Decline it.'” Boudreau said. “And Perry looked at me as if I had two heads and then went out and scored because I think he was (upset) at me.”

Perry picked a great time to break the Ducks’ 0-for-18 drought on the power play when he batted his own rebound out of the air past Carolina goalie Justin Peters to tie the score in the third period.

The goal got the Ducks one point for getting into overtime, and Saku Koivu’s score in the shootout got them a 3-2 victory and brought them the second point to close more ground in the battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It wasn’t as if the Ducks didn’t have chances to break through. Carolina took five minor penalties, including three delays of game for putting the puck over the glass.

With Brandon Sutter called for hooking as the second period ended, the Ducks had four power plays in the third alone.

“It’s bound for one to go in,” Perry said. “We had a lot of chances. We were shooting the puck. The first power play, we could have had a couple. It’s just one of those things you keep working at it and it’s going to come.”

Down 2-1, Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler kept the puck in the offensive zone with his skate and got it to Ryan Getzlaf. Getzlaf threw the puck toward Peters and Perry tried to redirect it between his pads.

Peters made the save but the puck bounced in the air, where Perry used his hand-eye coordination to put in his 30th goal of the season. It is the third time he has reached that total in his career.

“My first instinct is to hit it,” he said. “It found a way over his shoulder. Fluttered in.”

Boudreau noted how it was the first power-play goal for the Ducks since they got three on the second game of their trip in Columbus, Ohio. Wipe away those three and they hadn’t scored on 30 chances spanning 10 games.

Frustration was starting to set in until Perry got the job done.

“Bruce was all over us to get one,” Perry said. “It’s our job to go out there and get one. Their power play got one for them. That’s what wins hockey games. When you’re special teams are tied or better, you’re going to succeed. And we did that tonight.”

HILLER COMES THROUGH

Jonas Hiller has been at the top of his game since the calendar turned to January, but he had been disappointed with how he was performing in shootouts this season.

The Ducks had won just twice in eight shootout games this season and Hiller was in goal for all of them. With his team needing every possible point it could get, Hiller was happy to come through against the Hurricanes.

“It was real important right now,” Hiller said.

“Winning one point or not winning one point, it’s like between making the playoffs or not. We have to still make some points up. It was really important.”

Hiller said he felt better going into this one because they had put in some work on it during a recent practice. He would make saves on Jeff Skinner and Brandon Sutter.

“I thought my depth was good right off the bat,” he said.

“I felt pretty good. I was seeing the puck pretty well the whole game long. That makes it easier also if you can go in the shootout and feel well.”

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